Hello iam new here and very new to skydiving. I live in Hilo Hawaii and can get training 1 island away. I am trying to decide to say here and do the training or go to a larger facility like Eloy Arizona? I lived i Arizona for several years so iam familiar with the state. My goal is to leave with my class A cert so i can come home and jump here in hawaii island. Any insight from some knowledgeable would be great!

Welcome to the forums! You should consider your travel costs for going to the next island as compared to AZ. What plane do they have in HI? Do you have to wait for people to show up in order to jump, or is it pretty steady jumping? Are the plane and gear in good condition? I can suspect that the planes and gear in Eloy are top notch, so it's all something to consider. Theoretically, you can get your license in a week if you have good weather and bang out the jumps at a large dropzone like Eloy.

#1 - Learning at the DZ you plan on jumping at is a good idea. You will build relationships and friendships with the rest of the usual crowd. You will also learn any peculiarites of the DZ that you wouldn't know about if you learned somewhere else.

#2 - Hawaii is known for "interesting" winds. IIRC, visiting jumpers have to have more than just an A to jump there. You might give the DZ a call and ask them.

hi, If your planning on flying back and forth, you may want to consider heading to Arizona. I showed up at 7:45 am today for my aff1. went through the objectives with my instructor and was done by 8:20 am. I sat there and waited until 11:30 AM and my instructor was scheduled for another tandem jump, which would make it at least another hour before i got to jump. I got bumped 4 times, my instructor said he was sorry and told me the manager knows i'll back but the tourist doing the tandem are only visiting so they come first. Food for thought. took the day off for this jump to.

The entire industry? I am talking about my experience at one training center, how does that sell out the entire industry?

I talked to the person in charge of training at Skydive Hawaii over the phone and the impression I got was he probably was high on dope and very unprofessional . I talked to pacific intl skydive center Stephanie answered all my questions very professional, so I choose to go with Pacific intl Skydive Hawaii. unfortunately she doesn't make the manifest for the jumps.

Lots of days with winds too radical for students. Thermals and dust devils are not uncommon. Excellent facilities, world-recognized OMG, the view from altitude is ...bleh. Has site-located vertical wind tunnel.

I am doing my classes at Pacific as well. Heard a lot of good things about them. If you plan on attending Pacific, let me know. I would like to start meeting people in the area to take classes and jump with.